


Takes One to Know One

by belikebeebo



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Ava hates Constantine, AvaLance, Basketball, Canon Compliant, Demon, F/F, Hell, Idiots in Love, One-Shot, Random prompt, Sara is the fearless idiot, just for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27606290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belikebeebo/pseuds/belikebeebo
Summary: Random prompt: Write a 150 word story in the comedy genre. It's about a demon and should include a basketball. Also use the sentence 'I'll deal with you later.' Bonus prompt: Your character is fearless to the point of stupidity.Cue Sara as the fearless idiot and Ava as her heroine! One-shot set in hell...
Relationships: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 4
Kudos: 58





	Takes One to Know One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LanceALotz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanceALotz/gifts).



> Based on the idea for a random prompt by @LanceALotz, I hope you like the result! 
> 
> The full prompt: "Sara keeps on trying to defeat a demon unprepared/unarmed and Ava keeps on saving her. Sara ultimately chases the demon to hell, where they are torturing some poor soul. When the demon notices her, he tells the victim “I’ll deal with you later”. This time Ava defeats the demon and Sara’s sad because Ava’s reason to stick around is gone (it turns out Sara was just acting like that because she wanted Ava to protect her, giving her a reason to stay). Ava then kisses Sara and says “for someone so brave, you’re a coward."
> 
> It turned into a longer one-shot, and I tweaked some of the parts, but I hope the extra words are worth it! Comments and suggestions are always very happily received! <3

“No. Not again. She can’t have been this stupid. Did you say she’s followed him into _HELL?_ ”

“I’m afraid so, Ms Sharpe. She expressly refused any back-up from the team.”

Ava let out a loud groan as she glanced around the deserted ship. The demon the Bureau had been chasing had proven extremely elusive – their efforts not in the least hampered by the hapless team she found herself having to work with. While the Time Bureau and the Legends had reached some sort of détente a while ago and could even be considered to be colleagues at times, the fact that those misfits would still do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, frustrated her to no end. Not in the least because she found herself at complete odds with the Captain of their ship most of the time. Frustrating also because she maybe had the tiniest, unrequited and unacknowledged crush on said Captain.

In this case, it wasn’t any normal time anomaly they were dealing with. It was a demon, from _actual hell_ , and Ava had had some trouble wrapping her head around that concept to begin with.

“Any idea how she actually got there?” Ava asked the AI, trying to ignore the tendril of fear growing in her stomach.

“She has enlisted the help of a warlock to take her there, Agent Sharpe.”

“That’s not who I think it is, is it?”

Ava had heard of this so-called warlock-slash-demonologist, Constantine, who, if you asked her, was really just a quack. She’d heard Sara mention something about an exorcism they had done together – but she wasn’t quite ready to believe all of that was actually true. She sighed, rubbing her head fruitlessly to stave off the headache she felt coming on.

She had already saved Sara from this demon twice before, the first time arriving just in time to portal her away before he could burn her alive. It left her reeling for a while after, both the shock at the sight of the demon and the sudden realisation that Sara could actually die right there. The second time he made an appearance, they faced him together. It was a good team effort with the Legends, to be honest, but then it turned out he had recruited accomplices and it was all they could do to make a quick escape – all except for Sara, who thought she could surprise him. As soon as Ava became aware of Sara’s impulsive plan, she again wasted no time in dragging her back – even if they did have a massive argument about it afterwards.

They’d eventually agreed to work on a plan to catch the demon for once and for all, but now it turned out Sara had actually sought him out alone, once again, to her endless frustration.

“I’m afraid it is John Constantine, Agent Sharpe. Would you like me to try and locate him?”

“No,” she exclaimed instinctively. “I mean, yes. Please, Gideon.” Another long sigh followed, as she waited on Gideon to give her the details of where to find this Constantine.

***

After she got the address, she had packed her gun, and hesitated a moment before also taking one of the Time Bureau confiscated swords, that she swung in its sheath over her shoulder. She wasn’t all that well-versed in the world of demonology, but a sword felt fitting. Her annoyance levels rose with every step of her way to the address Gideon had given her. She hated that she needed John Constantine for anything, and she kind of hated that Sara went to him and not to her. Did she not trust her as much? Was there something more between them? She forced those thoughts out of her head as she waited for the warlock to answer his door. After some rumbling from inside, it eventually swung open and she didn’t even greet him as she stepped through.

“Hello to you too,” he mocked as he closed the door. “You must be the infamous Agent Sharpe! Let me guess… You’re here for Sara.” He had been expecting this, of course.

“You have to send me to her,” Ava came to the point immediately.

“Polite one, I see. Guess I won’t have to bother offering you a cuppa, then.”

“I know you helped her go after that demon. How could you let her go alone? I know she can be irresponsible, but you’re enabling her and…” she was aware of the aggravated tone her voice had taken on, before she was interrupted.

“Listen, love. Sara knows what she’s doing and she’s perfectly capable. And you know as well as I do she doesn’t easily take no for an answer.” He suddenly grinned knowingly. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say someone has a little…”

“Don’t,” Ava held up a finger in warning, “even finish that sentence.”

“Good thing I know better, then.” John mumbled.

“Look, you have to send me to her, right now. She could be in trouble,” Ava pleaded.

“Are you sure you want to go down there, pet? It’s not exactly a place for,” he looked her up and down, “crisp and neatly pressed suits.” He gave her a cocky half-smile that Ava found incredibly off-putting.

“I’ll be fine.” She shrugged at the sword on her back. “Now, what do I need to do?”

“I have a spell that can create a portal straight to the demon’s location in hell. You’ll have to drink this as you go in, though,” he smirked, showing her a small vial of a liquid she didn’t dare to ask the name of. “And take this amulet with you, it’ll help bring you back here in one piece. Travelling to hell can be… let’s say, harsh, on a human body.”

Ava looked at the vial and the amulet in her hands with some distaste. Was this really necessary or was he having her on? She glanced back at him, his eyes twinkling but his expression otherwise serious enough. She decided Sara was worth the risk. “Alright,” she replied eventually.

John nodded and started his spell, drawing a circle of ash from some box before reciting unfamiliar words. When he was done, he motioned for Ava to step into the circle. “And Sharpie...” he added finally, to Ava's chagrin. “Be careful, alright? This is not a place to linger around in too long.”

Ava nodded seriously as she stepped into the circle. She put the vial to her mouth, cringed, closed her eyes and drank.

***

Ava found herself transported to some kind of chamber, and she quickly did a check of her surroundings. If she’d ever wondered what hell would be like, it hadn’t looked anything like this. The sulfuric air was an assault to her sense of smell, but the rest of it was almost boring in its predictability. Dark walls, wet and grainy, burning torches, the occasional shriek in the distance. As a seasoned time-traveller, the idea of being in practically a different dimension didn’t phase her as much as it would anyone else. It didn’t mean the feel of this place didn’t give her chills.

Stepping further into the room and carefully glancing around a corner, Ava felt her usual unyielding composure slip away to something close to fear when she saw the situation before her. Any other time or place, the scene would have made her laugh. The now familiar demon, a grotesque-looking creature, was busy bouncing a basketball against the wall, onto some poor unconscious soul’s head and back via the floor. The thuds and subsequent groans reverberated loudly through the chamber. It wasn’t a normal basketball, either – this one looked decidedly heavier than usual and seemed to have a rough surface that left bloody marks all over the victim’s face. She hadn’t been spotted so far, to her relief, but she also hadn’t yet seen Sara anywhere. 

She covertly made her way around the back of a group of pillars. Spending a few moments waiting and looking carefully, she suddenly noticed a dark shadow moving stealthily across on the other side of the room – a shape and movement she instinctively recognised. If she had gotten to know the assassin-slash-captain at all, she’d already spotted her.

She crept closer to one of the corners where she knew, at least hoped, Sara would follow her. She was relieved to find she did.

“Ava! You’re here!”

“Sara, what the hell were you thinking, going in here alone? Do you want to get yourself killed?!” Ava tried to keep her voice down to a whisper, unable to rein in the surge of emotion she felt at seeing the Captain alive and well.

Sara put out her hands in an attempt to calm the other woman. “Ssh! John gave me some interesting info about how to defeat this bastard, but I was not taking any of the team with me to _hell_ , that would be a disaster.”

“And this isn’t?! You should have called me, at least.”

“I knew you wouldn’t approve. This isn’t exactly Bureau territory.”

“Of course I wouldn’t approve!” Ava scoffed. “I don’t even understand how you can trust that… that warlock guy.”

“I have my reasons to trust John…” Sara shook her head quickly, realising the urgency of the situation. “But that’s a story for another time. Look, we have a chance to take him out, here, now.”

“No. No way. We are not engaging with the demon. This is strictly a retrieval mission,” Ava whispered back angrily, stabbing a finger at Sara. “I’m retrieving you.”

Sara’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “You’re what now?”

“I’m taking you back and we’re going to think of a solid plan, one that doesn’t involve the risk of becoming a… a bask-hell-ball target for all eternity!” Ava gestured somewhat wildly in the direction of the demon.

Sara shook her head. “I told you… I got this.” With that, she jumped up and made her way to where the demon was still casually bouncing his ball.

“Sara, you… Argh!” Ava exclaimed, wringing an invisible neck in front of her before getting up. She snuck her way through the chamber, trying to follow the other woman without being seen.

Sara had simply walked up to the demon, tapping it on the shoulder with a “hey, loser”. She ducked as he turned around and made a grab for her, and soon they were embroiled in a battle of clanging metal and swift kicks. Sara was fast, but the demon was strong, as he had proven twice before. After a few missed strikes, he hit her hard with a heavy blow that made her lose her balance and drop to the ground.

A fraction of a second later, Ava moved on pure instinct.

“Hey, dirtbag, over here.” Ava came out from her hiding place and waved her hands over her head to attract the demon’s attention. For all its strength and evilness, its capabilities seemed quite basic in the sensory department.

“Ava, what are you doing?!” Sara yelled, trying to hold off another blow from her position on the floor.

“You heard me,” Ava taunted again, trying to engage the creature. “You have the smallest horns of any demon I’ve ever seen. I bet you pick on little humans to feel big in this place, don’t you? Other demons too strong for you?”

“I’ll deal with you later,” the demon snarled at Sara as it finally turned to face Ava.

Ava backed away slightly, holding out the sword in front of her.

The demon kept advancing on her and she moved around in swift circles, trying to stay out of his reach as long as possible. She made eye-contact with Sara, who had now gotten up. It was only then that Ava noticed the weapon Sara was wielding wasn’t an ordinary dagger. It was long and slightly crooked, with an odd gleam to it. She concluded it had to be something supernatural. Sara gave her a nod, and Ava understood her intent immediately – distract the demon so she could use the weapon. Before she could take any action, however, the creature shot out its hand behind it with non-human speed, grabbing Sara by the neck. Ava’s eyes went wide as the demon gave her an ugly grin. “I’m not a complete idiot,” it growled maliciously. “Neither one of you is getting out of here alive.”

Ava’s eyes had quickly moved back to Sara, who was struggling for breath in the demon’s grasp. She was still conscious enough to throw her the dagger, though, and Ava caught it expertly before driving it emphatically into the demon’s chest.

“How did you get…” was the only thing it managed to croak out, before the wound started bubbling as if it was on fire and then burst open its entire chest. Definitely a supernatural dagger, then. Sara fell to the ground, holding her throat, and Ava was beside her in seconds.

“I think we got it…” Ava said with a glance back at the demon. “Are you alright?”

“I’m good,” Sara replied hoarsely. “You saved me, again,” she added as she smiled up at Ava.

“You don’t really leave me much choice, now, do you,” Ava said, the effect of her stern glare somewhat lessened by the relief in her voice.

“Thank you. I mean it.”

“We’re gonna have to talk about these suicide missions you insist on taking on when we get back to the ship,” Ava replied.

Sara just chuckled and prepared their circle portal and amulets. “Yeah, well, let’s get out of here first.”

***

Sara had been quiet as they made their way to the parlour. “We killed the demon, I thought you’d be happier about that,” Ava finally spoke up as Sara reached for the liquor cabinet.

“I am happy.”

“You don’t look it. Come on, what’s going on with you?” Ava pressed.

When no answer was forthcoming, she turned Sara away from the drinks she was pouring and around to face her. “Hey. What’s going on?”

“It appears Captain Lance has been attempting these missions alone to get your attention for a while, Agent,” Gideon supplied – unhelpfully, if you asked Sara.

“Gideon…” Sara warned.

“Wha…” Ava just gaped up at the ceiling, before turning her gaze back to Sara. “Have you been seriously risking your life… just to spend time with me?” Ava asked incredulously.

“No! It’s just…” Lost for words, Sara shuffled her feet, looking anywhere but at Ava and... was she _blushing?_ The sudden realisation of what was really going on hit Ava like a hammer to the chest.

She moved to within an inch of Sara, letting her eyes bore into Sara’s blue ones. “You know, for someone so brave, you’re a coward.” She let the corner of her mouth quirk up ever so slightly, ever so smugly, awaiting Sara’s reaction.

Sara’s initial expression of surprise briefly turned into something unreadable, then into a smile. Before Ava had realised what was happening, Sara’s hands were on her face and pulling her close, their lips meeting almost forcefully but oh so soft at the same time. It left Ava breathless and unable to do anything else but hungrily return the kiss. When Sara pulled back, Ava’s lips were still forming a small ‘oh’ as she stared back at Sara questioningly.

Sara just smirked. “Takes one to know one.”


End file.
